Does link equity to a page that is 301'd to a new domain pass juice on?

[bjs2010]

If we build some quality inbound links to certain pages, that are a later date 301'd to another domain, does any equity or juice get transferred across? Or is the inbound link's value wasted?

Thanks

[TomRayner]

Hi there

The short answer is yes.  Here's a relevant video: http://searchengineland.com/google-pagerank-dilution-through-a-301-redirect-is-a-myth-149656

301 redirects to pass on full PageRank value/juice on to the new domain.

Long answer: yes, however, with each additional link, some PageRank value is lost along the way.  This is no different for 301s.  For example, Page A has a PR of 1000 and Page B has a PR of zero.  Page A either links or redirects to Page B.  Page B now has 900 PR.

Value of PR in the algorithm is always partially lost.  What many believed before was that, in the above example, a link on Page A would give 900 PR to Page B, but a 301 redirect might only give 700 PR to Page B.  However, we now believe that this is not the case.

Similarly, it should be remembered that PageRank is one part of the Google algorithm - one of many.  If you look at how a 301 redirect works, you're passing on the strength of the domain/page to to the new web page, but what you lose is anchor text, content and so on.  Contextuality, quality of surrounding content and anchor text all have a certain "SEO value" to them as well, but you don't get these with 301 redirects.

However, it passes all of the PageRank strength of the page and so you should expect to see a significant boost from a relevant 301.

Hope this helps.

[bjs2010]

Excellent answer Tom... thanks!